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It has been a long hard road to get to this point. I was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer on September 6, 2006.

I had a lumpectomy on October 3, 2006 followed by chemo therapy and 7 weeks of 33 treatments of radiation. I lost my hair…….I lost my identify, but I never lost my ability to fight  the cancer and I got rid of the cancer! I was scared, real scared that I would die but decided early on that I was not going to let cancer rob me of seeing my son graduate from college, get married and all of the other things that go with seeing your children grow up. My husband took it hard, real hard, but we all survived and are stronger today because we didn’t give up, we fought the cancer all the way. It is funny how looking back I ask myself how I got through it. Faith in God and the support of family and friends all had a huge impact on my recovery. I did not do it alone. I had a wonderful support system. Other women going through diffierent stages of cancer were a true inspiration to me and I soon began trying to help other women get through their cancer treatment and recovery. A smile, a small token of love, an angel pin, or just being there to listen when someone needed to talk soon became a big part of my life.

As hard as it is to hear those words we all have dreaded everytime we have a mammogram, we find a way to get through it. The support from other women is amazing and that angels that come into your life just when you need them are nothing short of a miracle. For me, losing my hair was the worst part of the cancer. I hated to look in the mirror and avoided it at all costs. I never let anyone (not even my husband) see me bald. I tried to keep things normal even though going through cancer treatment is by far not the least bit normal. Everything in my life turned upside down. I soon learned that it was doable and I was going to survive the breast cancer. By the way, I had no family history of anyone having breast cancer in my family. I was told that 80% of new cancers are with women with no family history. WOW, that is unbelievable. My mother had two surgeries removing a total of 5 lumps, all beneign. When I found my lump, I wrongly assumed they would be beneign just like my Mom’s.

Early detection is key!  Don’t wait if you find a lump. Have it checked out because more than likely it will be beneign. Listen to your body, use your natual born intuition. I knew inheritantly that somthing was wrong. I feel that women have a built in intuitive clock and they know when something isn’t right.   Listen to your inner self. Don’t second guess yourself.

My hair all fell out…..all but one lone strand. It started growing back in the middle of Febrary, 2007. Today I thought was a good time to get a haircut even though I want it to grow longer, I thought I needed a trim as my hair it out of control. I am still wearing a wig but it is becoming  increasingly uncomfortable with this mop of curly hair underneath. I find a beauty shop that is open and low and behold get a male hairdresser. Oh great, just want I don’t want is a man. I have to take off my wig and explain my situation and wasn’t looking forward to revealing this mop of hair to a man! It took all the courage I could muster up to tell him I lost all my hair and now I have this curly mop that is totally uncontrollable and could he please do something with it. This man was an angel in disguise! He tells me how he loves curly hair (too bad I don’t, I tell him) and he goes on to tell me that the chemo and radiation have done a number on my body and to be patient and drink lots of water and let my hair continue to grow out and to embrace the curls I have and enjoy my new look! He even goes so far to tell me my own hair looks better than the wig. It will take some more thinking about this for me to go out in public as “Curly  Sue” as he lovingly called me! He then proceeds to give me a head massage and put some product on my hair that makes it shiny and he redistributes my curls and says to come back in  December and he will give me some style as it still needs to grow out more. I try to pay him and he says ”just give me a hug” and  come see me in December. I leave the shop in tears at his kindness. Random acts of  kindness from people I don’t know continue to come into my path. So, I am going to try to embrace my new short curly look and forego the wig, at least for today until I can get used to the look.  The hardest thing about breast cancer is wanting to look like yourself again. The lesson I learned from this kind man today, is that I may never look the same as before, but I am alive and that is the important thing!  God bless you kind angel. I will see you in December.

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